How Much Television is Too much?

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How Much Television is too much?

How much television is too much? Well on an average, children spend 25 hours a week watching television. And who’s to say it’s even quality stuff that they’re watching? This is a big question among many, if not all, American families. People today spend more time watching television than on any other single leisure activity. In fact, studies have shown that the average child spends more time in front of the television than in school. (Patterson, 2001) Television was once an educator, but overtime is gradually ruining our youth. Television is not necessarily all good or all bad, but maybe it’s just influencing people more than needed.

Although it seems more corruptive than anything, television can be used as a great learning tool. The news is a major component of being informed about what’s going on in our society and country. An example is the attack of the World Trade Centers. People were informed of what was happening, what’s going to happen next, and how we could help. Another aspect is The Learning Channel (TLC), in which we are informed of many things regularly taught in school, such as births, different kinds of creatures, and about space and the Earth. The History Channel, as well, can be watched to learn about past wars and historical people. For children, cartoons have become a way for them to learn basic knowledge. Such cartoons are Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, and Blues Clues, which are very educational and do not have to be monitored by parents, because the material should be suitable for younger children.

If television is such a big learning tool, then where’s the problem? Although watching television doesn’t seem like such a big issue, it is. Many hous...

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...ne day without watching television?” The people I asked were a random group of students. The results were almost unanimous with a whopping 89% saying no they couldn’t go a day without television, 8% said yes as long as they had the internet, and the other 3% said yes they could go without either (television or the internet) for one day. This goes to show just how much TV influences our daily schedules.

In conclusion, television is a big impact on everyday lives. Without television where would we be? There are lessons-small lessons, enormous lessons, lessons that may be crucial to the planet’s persistence as a green and diverse place and also to the happiness of its inhabitants-that nature teaches and TV can’t. (McKibben, 1992) I believe he summed it up pretty well. Although TV was, is, and always will be a great invention, time doesn’t involve around it.

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